Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise at a glance — core figures from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document:
Investment (Item 7)
$1.2M - $2.7M
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
5% of Gross Sales
Franchised units
219
Item 19 earnings
$686K median
Disclosed litigation
1 case
▼
Shrinking Network — Net -3 units in the reported period
More locations closed than opened. Investigate root causes before investing.
Franchised Units
Industry avg: 261
84th percentile
Company-Owned
0.5% of system
Total System
Since 1993
Years Operating
Founded 1993
Units Opened
Industry avg: 20 opened
6.8% open rate
Units Closed
Industry avg: 9 closed
8.2% closure rate
Net Growth
-1.4% net growth rate
Network contracting
How Bruster's Real Ice Cream compares to 749 other Food & Beverage franchises in the database.
Total Units
Avg: 261 219
Units Opened
Avg: 20 15
Units Closed
Avg: 9 18
Lower is better for closures
8.2%
Moderate closure rate — worth investigating
Between 5-10% of units closed. Ask the franchisor about the primary causes and whether closures were voluntary or performance-related.
Healthy
0 – 5%
Moderate
5 – 10%
Elevated
> 10%
Compare Bruster's Real Ice Cream's growth to Food & Beverage industry averages — unit counts, opening rates, closure analysis, and network health indicators.
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Growth data is one piece of the puzzle. Review Bruster's Real Ice Cream's complete profile — financials, fees, territory rights, litigation history, and more — on the overview page.
Item 20 of the Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise FDD is the most predictive single section in the document. The table tracks how many units opened, closed, transferred, or were terminated across the system over the past three years. A franchise that grew 15% per year tells a very different story than one that stayed flat or shrank — even if both have identical Item 19 revenue numbers.
Closures vs. transfers: The two columns mean different things. A closure means a franchisee shut down and walked away — usually because the unit wasn't profitable. A transfer means the unit changed hands but stayed open — which can be neutral (retirement, relocation) or negative (the original franchisee couldn't make it work and sold to escape). High transfer rates without growing closures often signal an unhappy franchisee base that's exiting at first opportunity.
Healthy benchmark: Annual closure rates of 5% or less are typical for healthy food & beverage systems. Closure rates above 10% per year suggest unit-level economics are stressed somewhere — labor costs, royalty load, market saturation, or all three. Look at the trend, not just the absolute number — closures rising year over year is a stronger signal than a single bad year.
Cross-reference Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise unit growth with the franchisor's pipeline (units in development) and any geographic concentration. A system that's growing in absolute count but only in one region may be hitting saturation in its core market. Talk to franchisees from Item 20 in different geographies to triangulate whether the growth story holds nationally or is a regional phenomenon.
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Data shown is extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document filed with state regulators. Fees, investment ranges, and other terms may have changed since this filing. Always request the current FDD directly from the franchisor before making any investment decisions. This information is not financial, legal, or investment advice. Full disclaimer.
$1.2M - $2.7M
$40K
5% of Gross Sales
219
$686K median
1 case
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